FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT RICK DIPIETRO - PAGE 5

The Sports Xchange By Jerry Beach, The Sports Xchange Bounces go Hurricanes' way in win over Islanders UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- The Carolina Hurricanes' first goal Monday night glanced off the skate of infrequent contributor Tim Wallace. The Hurricanes took the lead for the first time on their fourth goal, which was actually an "own" goal by the New York Islanders. And the Hurricanes' fifth goal, which proved to be the winner, happened in such a confusing flurry in the crease that even after the game the Hurricanes weren't actually sure whether it was scored by Eric Staal, who was credited with it after the puck ticked off his skate or Jiri Tlusty, whose stick deflected Jay Harrison's slap shot.

SportsDirect Inc. Preview: Islanders at Rangers Mired in a five-game losing skid, the New York Islanders travel downtown on Thursday to visit the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden, where they haven't won since Dec. 26, 2009. The Rangers have outscored the Islanders 35-11 en route to eight straight wins at home, including a 4-1 victory last Thursday. Rookie J.T. Miller scored his first two NHL goals in that game while goaltender Henrik Lundqvist made 27 saves to improve to 25-11-5 against the Islanders.

The Sports Xchange By Jerry Beach, The Sports Xchange Hurricanes 6, Islanders 4 UNIONDALE, N.Y. - The Carolina Hurricanes scored four goals in the third period Monday night to come back and defeat the reeling New York Islanders, 6-4, at Nassau Coliseum. Jiri Tlusty scored two goals, including an empty netter with 10.3 seconds left, for the Hurricanes, who also received goals from Tim Wallace, Jeff Skinner, Alexander Semin and Eric Staal. The Hurricanes didn't lead until an Islanders "own goal" was credited to Semin 5:33 into the third.

The Sports Xchange NHL roundup: Islanders waive DiPietro The New York Islanders placed high-priced backup goaltender Rick DiPietro on waivers Friday. The former No. 1 overall draft pick was 0-3 this season with a 4.09 goals-against average and .855 save percentage. DiPietro has eight years remaining on his contract with an average annual salary of $4.5 million. DiPietro has battled injuries since signing a 15-year contract with the Islanders in 2006, but he has been healthy this season.

Gary Roberts scored twice and Ed Belfour stopped all 31 shots as the host Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Ottawa Senators 2-0 Saturday night to even the first-round playoff series at one game apiece. Fans chanted "Eddie! Eddie!" throughout as Belfour recorded his 12th career shutout in the playoffs, and his 83rd win, tying him with New Jersey's Martin Brodeur for first place among active goaltenders. Belfour made his best save during an Ottawa power play in the third period, robbing Daniel Alfredsson of a goal with a glove save.

Wolves goalie Rick DiPietro had one very interested observer among the crowd of 11,131 at Allstate Arena for Monday's IHL All-Star Game. New York Islanders General Manager Mike Milbury watched as DiPietro and the Wolves defeated a collection of IHL All-Stars 4-0. Despite trading away a highly touted prospect in Roberto Luongo and drafting DiPietro first overall in the 2000 entry draft, Monday was the first time Milbury had seen DiPietro play...

With the New York area digging out from a massive snowstorm, the NHL considered postponing Saturday's game between the Blackhawks and New York Islanders. From the Hawks' standpoint, that might not have been a bad idea. Their winless streak is now 13 after the Islanders routed them 5-2 before a sparse turnout of 3,863 at Nassau Coliseum. The victory snapped a seven-game losing streak for the Islanders. It was only the second loss in Long Island for the Hawks in their last 20 games there.

Good soldier that he is, Blackhawks goaltender Jocelyn Thibault will adhere to whatever new rules the NHL institutes to restrict goalies and increase scoring. But he wonders if the NHL is looking in the right places to fix what is supposedly wrong with the game. "When you look at the problem in the game, it's what's going on in the neutral zone," Thibault said. "Why are the games not as interesting as they should be? Because there isn't any open ice to skate. The best skaters aren't able to skate anymore."

Miroslav Satan notched his seventh career hat trick and added the decisive shootout goal. He was still overshadowed by his goaltender. Rick DiPietro made 40 saves, including 20 in the third period and overtime, then stopped both shootout attempts he faced to lift the Islanders to a 5-4 victory Saturday over the host Penguins. "It was a tremendous effort by Rick," Islanders coach Brad Shaw said. "He was unbelievable." "He stole the game," Penguins coach Michel Therrien said.

Senators right wing Daniel Alfredsson will be out at least a week after breaking a rib during Friday night's home win over the New York Islanders, the team said on its Web site. Alfredsson, who's second in the NHL with 55 points, was injured when he was hit by a slap shot from teammate Zdeno Chara during the second period of the 4-3 win over New York. He needed his stick to steady himself as he left the ice, then went to the locker room. Alfredsson, 33, is third in the NHL with 25 goals and has 30 assists in 36 games.